N-Pot, Created by Students of IPB to Utilize Palm Oil Wastes
When someone is asked about his knowledge of pots, most probably will say that pots are generally black, round in shape, made of plastic and have a diameter of about 30 centimeters. But for people who like to collect potted plants, it is not strange to see a variety of pots from with different colour, shape, size and materials used. Day by day, the design of pot are getting more and more varieties. Thus, some of them are not only suitable for outside home, but they are also utilized as interior decoration items in a room.
They are student of Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Muhamad Iskandar and Nurul Hidayah, who are very creative to make creative and innovative plant pot designs which are labelled as N-Pot which stands for Nature Pot (Natural Pot). This Nature Pot innovation is made of palm oil waste and mineral land based on zero waste agriculture in peatland management in Indonesia. This innovation has caused both students to win the first prize in the scientific writing competition held by IPB Soil Science Student Association at the end of last year. The theme of the Soil Science Festival Paper Competition was Peatland Management Innovation in Indonesia.
N-pot is produced by utilizing waste or by-products of palm oil production in the form of empty bunches and palm shells. Then they are mixed with mineral soil to provide the mineral deposits such as P, K, Ca, Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn for its micro elements. The provision of mineral soil is necessary as the acid content of the peat soil is quite high, ranging from pH 3-5. The incorporation of the material using natural tannin adhesive is aided by using newspaper to strengthen N-Pot. Pot shaping is utilizing moulded pots.
"We use the palm oil waste as we understand that the amount of waste is quite a lot, of 24 tons per hectare per year of fresh palm fruits only about five tons are utilized, where are the other 19 tons fruits. Wastes from the oil palm mill includes palm oil mill effluent (POME), decanter cake, empty fruit bunches, seed shells and the fibre from mesocarp., "explained Iskandar.
In addition, as alternative for polybags used in oil palm plantations the N-Pot for the planting media is good enough as it rich in nutrient content. N-Pot can also be utilized as a planting media. N-Pot can contribute to good soil and environment health, in order to preserve the nutrient preservation on peatlands. (Wied)
